Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Atomic Layer Deposition Surface-Modified Carbon Nanosphere and Carbon Nanopowder Nanofluids
Marcell Bohus, Thong Le Ba, Klára Hernádi, Gyula Gróf, Zoltán Kónya, Zoltán Erdélyi, Bence Parditka, Tamás Igricz, Imre Miklós Szilágyi
Abstract
In this paper, we present a study on thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids containing novel atomic layer deposition surface-modified carbon nanosphere (ALD-CNS) and carbon nanopowder (ALD-CNP) core-shell nanocomposites. The nanocomposites were produced by atomic layer deposition of amorphous TiO2. The nanostructures were characterised by scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). High-concentration, stable nanofluids were prepared with 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 vol% nanoparticle content. The thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluids were measured, and their stability was evaluated with Zeta potential measurements. The ALD-CNS enhanced the thermal conductivity of the 1:5 ethanol:water mixture by 4.6% with a 1.5 vol% concentration, and the viscosity increased by 37.5%. The ALD-CNS increased the thermal conductivity of ethylene–glycol by 10.8, whereas the viscosity increased by 15.9%. The use of a surfactant was unnecessary due to the ALD-deposited TiO2 layer.